By Orin
DavidsonJune 6th, 2008The question has been making the rounds continuously in the
minds of die- hard supports of United States cricket these last few
days.

Where does our cricket go from here?

In the wake of another disastrous attempt by the national
senior team at qualifying for the world’s most prestigious cricket
competition, it is a very pertinent query.

Just when the country has been released from a two-year
world ban, the fraternity hardly had time savor the good feeling before
being plunged into another state of deep depression.

Not capable of placing among the top two teams in
the lowest level of recognized world competition has caused this country
another indefinite wait to play in the World Cup for the very first
time.

The United States was unable to beat teams like Jersey,
which no one playing or following cricket here, ever heard of before
now, and the likes of Nepal.

And when you see counties like Afghanistan, that war
ravaged nation, going onto the next stage of the long World Cup qualification
process, you immediately conclude that U.S. cricket is in serious
trouble.

That is the reality the nation faces after America
could only manage a fourth place finish in the ICC World Group five
series that ended last weekend in Jersey, a little island just off
England.

Immediately, the thought that we may have underestimated
the 12 teams in the series that included Germany, Norway, Mozambique,
Japan, Afghanistan. and Vanuatu, comes to mind.

That may be true, but the other reality is that the
national ruling body’s poverty of financial resources caused
the embarrassment we are now facing.

In terms of administration and organization , it
seems the U.S. was worst off than the major of the countries in Jersey,
which is why America could do no better than a lamentable fourth place.

Team captain Steve Massiah revealed that the team
had no more than one solitary week end of net practice and nothing
more, which is a disgrace for a team preparing for the biggest competition
it could ever think of being in, at this stage of its existence.

With the national body being banned by the World
body, you don’t expect the United States of America Cricket
Association (USACA) to receive any funding from the ICC during the
two- year period.

But outside of that reality, the USACA coffers have
been bare for a long time before and during the ban.

And you don’t have to be genius to figure out
where that blame must be directed.

Surely now, this shock result in Jersey should jolt
us all into reality that we must never again underrate any team in
recognized international competition.

Countries are going the extra mile to be the best
they can be as winning means everything.

A look at the composition of many of those teams would
reveal names totally un German- like or Norwegian- like of Afghanistan-
like or even Mozambiquian-like.

The squads were filled with Asian sounding names that
tells you that the majority or 90 percent of those players are from
cricket playing nations.
So we were going up against players who have been playing the game
as long or even longer than our guys.

These were not teams of soccer playing players from
Germany and Norway, these were genuinely capable players.
Even Japan had the likes of Munir Ahmed and M. Kamatani in their lineup
It is a situation similar to the U.S. team which comprises exclusively
West Indian, India and Pakistan born nationals.

But when you see the exclusiveness in composition
of Germany and Norway squads, you wonder how all those players became
eligible to compete in ICC competitions so easily.

Especially so when a number of good players from the
West Indies and Asia have had problems making the cut for the national
team because of eligibility restrictions over the years.

Nevertheless, we cannot cry over split milk, but should
be taking in the harsh lessons learnt from the Jersey experience.

Most of those countries took this World Cup Five competition
very seriously. Jersey for example selected a slew of Englishmen with
county experience.

And even if we never knew of Jersey before, they were
coming with players, the likes of Ryan Driver with a resume of exposure
with Lancashire and Worcestershire counties and others of similar
type pedigree.

And they had those players gelling as a unit weeks
before their first match against Singapore.

Comparatively, the America squad had not a single
player who ever got close to winning a county contract.

Lennox Cush has first class experience playing for
Guyana in the West Indies Regional competitions. And given the low
level of standards there these days, that is saying very little.

Sushil Nadkarnie played briefly for his state team
in India and also for that county’s “A” team on
a solitary tour, which is negligible to sustained county experience.
Massiah was a Guyana Under-19 player which makes him the next closest
player to real exposure as is Orlando Baker who did likewise for Jamaica.

So here we were, going up against seasoned players,
with a bunch of rusty team members, some of whom had not lifted a
bat or handled a ball since the summer of 2007.

Why we could not have had our team getting familiar
to turf pitches as opposed to matting, opposing Rest teams on the
sleek facilities at the new Broward County stadium in Florida is a
question the powers- that- be, have to ponder. Also not being in Jersey
or some place else in the United Kingdom, getting used to the seaming
conditions there for at least week, that is unique to that part of
the world.

Especially when the last American team to play for
a World Cup place was crippled by identical British playing conditions
in Ireland four years ago.